'Will there ever be peace in our community'

Apr. 27, 2013

BRICK — On the weekend of Oct. 27 I went to my nieces wedding in Philadelphia and it was a wonderful time. I came home on Sunday and was told I immediately had to evacuate my home. Sandy the “Monsterstorm” was coming and my life was never the same after that.

It was a Godsend that the TV was not playing because the electricity was out. I was huddled in an adult community with my neighbor who had to evacuate and no one would take her dogs and bird. So thay all came and we stuck it out together. I heard later that the films of superstorm Sandy were heartbreaking.

My husband stayed until the last minute and it was a good thing he got out when he did. The water was up to the floor-boards of his car and when he got to a safe area, traffic was blocked off and he had to sleep in his car the entire night.

The next morning no one was allowed to go into my neighborhood in Shore Acres because the water was 3 feet in the streets. Neighbors who stayed were taken out in boats .

Shore Acres is (was) a rare community. Residents party together, cry together and when the chips are down, they pull together. But there is so much disaster coming from all angles, no one could comfort the desolate. So much was lost and I am not even talking about the damages to our homes. Most of these residents have spent their entire lives here and counted on their home to be their “nest eggs.’ It’s the community and happiness that was lost and the return of it is nowhere in sight.

The devastation continues with unknown flood levels, insurance companies who do not want to pay after paying premiums for decades, faithfully, second homes not being helped by FEMA, grants being promised by the Government, but never arrive, families being torn apart and even more deaths directly attributed to the stress of the aftermath.